The Science of Reading: Phonics
What is it?
Phonics is the knowledge of the sounds that letters and combinations of letters make. For example, b says /b/ and igh makes the long i sound.
Why is it important?
Teaching phonics is the only way to help students read accurately, especially if they don’t already know and recognize the word they are reading. Phonics is the reason early readers can “sound things out” and adult readers can correctly read and pronounce esoteric, field-specific words like seismology.
Phonics is extremely important for learning to spell, as well. It is perhaps even more important for spelling because when you read, your brain can work to fill in the gaps or correct the word you misread. When you go to write it down, if you don’t know what letter or letters make the sound, you are stuck writing nothing.
How can I work on this at home?
If your child attends traditional school, make sure you know what phonics program, if any, your child’s school uses. Some examples of popular phonics curriculums are Word Study/Words Their Way, Fundations, Saxon Phonics, and Phonics First. Other programs, like Benchmark Education, have phonics embedded into the curriculum. In terms of supporting your child at home, it doesn’t matter what the program is. What matters is that you know which sounds and spelling patterns your child is working on each week. If you are unsure, ask your child’s teacher.
If you are homeschooling, trying to fill in gaps, or trying to extend your child’s phonics knowledge, I personally recommend a combination of Words Their Way/Word Study and Orton Gillingham. Orton Gillingham is the most highly recommended program for teaching reading to students with dyslexia, and in my experience it truly benefits all children. It is a multisensory approach to teaching phonics that gives clear, memorable rules for when and why we use each spelling pattern. Word Study involves students sorting words by their spelling patterns and noticing how the letters and sounds work together. You can find the words their way sorts freely available online, which is why I encourage parents to look into it. Side note: as your child progresses through phonics instruction, you may have to review the spelling rules yourself. This is the same thing that happens in math instruction. I am here to help if you have a specific phonics question. Just drop it in the comments section!
Early Phonics Readers that I recommend as a Reading Specialist
Phonics is having a well-deserved moment. Parents and teachers alike are realizing how important it is to building early success in reading and writing. Because of this, there are a lot more books marketed as decodable readers or phonics readers now. Decodable means “sound-out-able.” Any book becomes decodable once a child has learned the phonics patterns included in that book. This is the ultimate goal of using books like these. We don’t want kids to read one version or another of “The fat cat sat on a hat” for years. We want them to read it, become fluent with it, and read another book that includes -at words and words with another pattern. It’s truly like riding a bike. It’s important to keep the momentum going. So, here are some phonics/decodable book sets that I personally use and love. They follow a clear phonics pattern of development, and they include engaging pictures and stories/information.
I like this set because it has clear, engaging photos, it follows a clear phonics scope and sequence (teacher words for the way it moves through the series makes sense), and because it is nonfiction it doubles as a way to expand your child’s knowledge of the world and vocabulary. I will cover vocabulary in the next few weeks, but let’s just say it’s extremely important for now. Set 1 of these books includes short vowels and blends. You can grab it here. Set 2 includes long vowels and digraphs. You can buy that one here. Set 3 includes words with r-controlled vowels (ar, ir, er, ur), variant vowels, and more. This one can be purchased here.
The Usborne My Very First Reading Library is pricier but worth the price. It includes 50 books that organized by phonics pattern and come with parent instructions in the front of the book. For the first set of books, parents and kids are encouraged to take turns on the pages. The parents’ pages have more complicated words and the kids’ pages have controlled phonics patterns that they can sound out themselves. As kids work their way through the series and learn more spelling patterns, they begin to read the books independently. Each book also includes “puzzles” in the back that focus on phonics or reading comprehension skills. My girls are HUGE fans of solving the puzzles after we read, so much so that they call this series “puzzle books.” I wouldn’t include this set here if I didn’t think it was worth the price. Trust me when I say that it is. You can grab your set here. You won’t regret it.
We recently bought the Phonics Makes Readers Learn to Read books at the bookstore. I recommend this set for readers who are not feeling confident yet in their ability to sound out new words or who want more books they can read independently. The pacing for these books is slower, so where 1-4 books in the other sets mentioned might cover short vowel words with consonants (mat, bit, bog, etc.) this entire box will focus on those words. My four year old likes that she has now so many books she can read independently, but if you are hoping to help your child advance and learn more words and patterns, I would choose one of the other two recommended ones in this post. That being said, this one is great for extra decodable books on hand or for a child who wants to go slower with reading. You can grab your copy here.
What do I do about sight words?
I’m so glad you asked. It is almost impossible to find books that don’t have some words your child won’t be able to sound out yet when they are first learning to read. Words like the, like, and my will probably pop up as your child is sounding out the shorter words. These words do follow phonics patterns—your child just hasn’t learned them yet. These are great words to add to a reading notebook, flashcards, or personal word wall. Watch the video below to see how I review previously learned phonics patterns and sight words with my four year old. After she’s learned a phonics rule (i.e. the sound of short i), I add a mix of words that use that rule to her cards. The sight words I’ve included all come from books we have read together. She didn’t know the word, so I taught it to her and added it to our flash cards.
Final Thoughts
I could go on and on about phonics. It is truly essential for learning to read. I have tried to include as much information and helpful tips as I could without writing a post that is too overwhelming, but if you still have questions, please reach out! Drop a comment below or send me an email. I promise I will get back to you with answers.
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